1
Connect structure and movement →
Relate receiving, mixing and onward delivery.
SELECTED ORGAN / STRUCTURE TO FUNCTION
Stomach
A muscular organ in the upper abdomen receives a meal, mixes it with gastric secretions and controls onward delivery to the duodenum.
One continuous opened chamber connects an inlet and an outlet. These internal regions are not four separate sealed compartments.
Read the connected anatomy →30-SECOND ORIENTATION / AN ILLUSTRATION AT ANOTHER SCALE
Connect the selected shape to normal anatomy.
The image and editable labels explain anatomical relationships. They do not reveal new structures in the model you selected.
Structure notes · further context
- Cardia
- The lower esophageal sphincter is a functional junctional pressure zone, not a second visibly drawn pyloric ring.
- Fundus
- The upper stomach helps accommodate a meal through changes in muscular tone.
- Body
- Its glands contribute acid, enzymes and intrinsic factor. The stomach is not where most nutrient absorption occurs.
- Rugae
- Rugae involve mucosa and submucosa. Individual folds in this reconstruction are illustrative.
- Pyloric antrum
- It narrows toward the pyloric canal. Broad regional boundaries are gradual, not separate sealed compartments.
- Pyloric outlet
- Emptying occurs gradually and depends on stomach–duodenum coordination, not on completion of all digestion.
- Duodenum
- Bile, pancreatic secretion and intestinal mechanisms continue digestion beyond the stomach.
3-MINUTE UNDERSTANDING / ONE CANONICAL LEARNING PATH
Continue from what you can see to how it works.
Each route opens the corresponding existing lesson. The same deeper chapter remains the source of its full medical explanation.
2
Meet the working cells →
Separate acid, enzyme, mucus and hormone-producing roles.
3
Follow intrinsic factor →
Connect the stomach to downstream vitamin B12 handling.
DEEPER LEARNING / ORIGINAL MODEL-LINKED EXPLANATIONS
Read the structure and function together.
A continuous organ with regional differences
The stomach connects the oesophagus to the duodenum. Cardia, fundus, body and pyloric region are regions of one continuous lumen, not four sealed chambers. Mucosa, submucosa, muscular layers and serosa link secretion, protection, movement and external relationships.
Receive and accommodate
The proximal stomach relaxes as a meal arrives. Vagal reflexes and changes in tone create a reservoir without treating the organ as a rigid bag.
Mix and retropel
Contractions carry contents toward the antrum. Resistance at the outlet sends some material back for further mixing and particle breakdown.
Pass on gradually
Fluid and sufficiently small particles pass into the duodenum. Gastric and duodenal signals regulate the delivery; digestion is not complete at this point.
Surface mucous cells
Surface and gastric pits: Mucus + bicarbonate. Help maintain a protective microenvironment over the epithelium.
Mucous neck cells
Neck of fundic glands: Mucus. Contribute mucus within the glandular region; they differ from surface cells.
Parietal cells
Fundic/body glands: Acid + intrinsic factor. Secrete acid into the lumen and a protein required later for vitamin B12 absorption.
Chief cells
Deeper fundic/body glands: Pepsinogen + gastric lipase. Supply a protease precursor and an enzyme that contributes to fat digestion.
ECL cells
Fundic/body mucosa: Histamine. A local signal stimulates neighboring parietal cells.
G cells
Mainly pyloric/antral mucosa: Gastrin. Release a hormone into blood that helps coordinate gastric secretion.
D cells
Gastric mucosa: Somatostatin. Provide inhibitory feedback within gastric secretion control.
Cooperating stimulation
Acetylcholine, gastrin and histamine act through different receptors and cooperate. Gastrin is a blood-borne hormone; histamine acts locally.
Inhibitory feedback
Somatostatin restrains gastrin, histamine and acid pathways. The response is a coordinated network, not one permanent on/off switch.
Protection is more than one coating
Mucus and bicarbonate help maintain the epithelial surface environment. Epithelial integrity, repair and mucosal blood flow also matter. Acid assists digestion but is not an enzyme; pepsin begins protein breakdown, and digestion continues downstream.
Stomach: release from food
Acid and proteolysis help release food-bound B12. It associates with haptocorrin in the acidic environment.
Duodenum: change binding partner
Pancreatic proteases break down haptocorrin. B12 can then bind intrinsic factor made by gastric parietal cells.
Distal ileum: absorb the complex
Specific intestinal receptors take up the intrinsic-factor–B12 complex. Making intrinsic factor does not mean the stomach absorbs that complex.
What the surface model cannot show
The mesh shows a fixed organ form. It does not expose gland cells or simulate food mixing, accommodation or emptying time. There is no single universal emptying duration for every meal and person.
Sources and scope
- OpenStax · The stomach
- NIDDK · Your digestive system and how it works
- University of Leeds · Gastric cell organisation
- NCBI Bookshelf · Parietal cells
- NCBI Bookshelf · Gastric intrinsic factor
- Review · Gastric secretion
- Review · Gastric mucosal defence
- Review · Gastric accommodation
- Review · Vagal control of gastric motility
Original AllHumanBody teaching explanations and retained chapter illustrations. The selected source-labelled model, authentic medical photographs and AI-assisted teaching illustrations are different resource types. This plate is an illustration, not a scan, microscopy or certification of hidden structures in the selected model. Existing chapter source and image-provenance records are retained.
The original source-linked notes above are preserved. Detailed mechanisms and their supporting references remain in the linked canonical chapter. Medical source checks do not constitute human medical review or personal diagnostic advice; fine generated anatomy and physical-phone acceptance are not independently certified.